Once Upon a Time
by Tony Dimera
Summary: AU Fairy Tale. Princess Starfire is betrayed by Blackfire and given to a warlock Slade who trusts his soldier Robin to keep her prisoner in a tower. But Starfire's friend Raven finds were she is hidden and that she is in love with her captor Robin RobStar


Once Upon a Time

In the land of Jump, things were peaceful. The land was well, and life was good for those under the rule of there kind king. But in the shadows, darkness grew, that would soon destroy the peace of the land.

As the young and beautiful princess Starfire played with her best friend, the young sorceress in training Raven, they were watched by envious eyes.

Those eyes belonged to her older sister Princess Blackfire.

"Oh friend Raven, is this not another glorious days?" Starfire asked, looking to the cloud free sky.

"I suppose." Raven gave no sign of happiness, as she rarely did.

Starfire pouted slightly. "Friends Raven, why do you never laugh or smile? Do you not enjoy spending time with me?"

Raven looked to her friend; the field they were in now was not far from Starfire's family's castle. It was the one place they could hang out in peacefully.

"I do enjoy spending time with you Starfire. You are my best friend, but my mind is filled with great worries." Raven revealed.

Starfire walked beside her. "What great worries friend Raven? Let me help you with them."

Raven sighed, she wanted to keep it to herself, but saw the Star really wished to know.

"I sense a darkness coming; it may very well consume this land unless I can discover a way to stop it."

Starfire looked frightened, but calmed down. "Friend Raven, I wish to help you in anyway I can."

Raven considered that for a moment. "Your parents, if you tell them, perhaps the can ready this land for the possible disaster."

Starfire nodded. "I will, I will right now." She waved. "Farewell friend Raven, I will talk to you soon." Raven nodded, and then sat down to meditate. Maybe, just maybe the darkness could be stopped.

Blackfire laughed as she watched from a distance. She knew that creepy girl could cause problems for her dark master. But if Starfire told their parents all the planning would be nothing.

"I suppose I will simply have to make my dear sister vanish. Then I can have that nosey witch blamed for it, I'll kill two birds with one stone!"

Starfire rushed back the palace to deliver her friends words of warning to her mother and father, the king and queen. But before she got there she was stopped.

"Starfire!" She heard behind her, she halted her flight and turned to see Blackfire.

"Hello dear sister, is this important? I have something I must tell mother and father." She asked.

Blackfire nodded and approached her. "Very important," She raised her right and, a pink powder was piled in her hand. "Look at what I discovered!"

Starfire approached confused. "What is this?" She asked curiously. Blackfire held the powder to her mouth and blew it in Starfire's face.

"Something that will make you sleep," Blackfire grinned evilly, Starfire felt weak her legs gave out and collapsed, "Sorry sister, but I could not have you spoil my dark master's plans."

As Starfire slipped into unconsciousness Starfire could only let one thing out. "Sister…why?"

* * *

Blackfire had completed the spell needed to contact her dark master. Her sister lay unconscious

"Lord Slade, my sister nearly ruined her plans because her sorceress friend might know the truth. I had to knock her out, what should I do with her?"

A ghostly apparition appeared. It was Slade, projecting himself through the astral plain.

"Hmm, I have prepared for such an event. I cannot simply kill her; she is a princess and may come in useful later. But I have a loyal soldier based at a large tower in the forest just outside Jump city. Bring her to him; he shall keep her prisoner until we may need her."

"Very well master, it will be done." The images of Slade faded away into nothing. Blackfire turned to her sleeping sister.

"Poor sweet Starfire, you're going to be held prisoner by one Slade's loyal troops." She kissed her on the forehead. "I just want you to know…You deserve it you little twit!"

Blackfire flew towards the woods with Starfire in her arms, and spotted the tower in the distance. It was very large, very dark and very uninviting; she looked to her still slumbering sister. "Home sweet home for you from now on." She snickered and knocked on the only door.

The door opened, and there stood Slade's soldier. Spiky dark hair and a brownish suit that had Slade's insignia on it, and a very unfriendly look on his face.

"That's the princess." He said simply. Blackfire nodded, actually slightly afraid. He grabbed her out of her hands.

"I will erase her memory, and not allow her to ever leave this tower, as Slade's orders." He walked back to the tower, slamming the door behind himself.

"Uh, thanks. "She said to no one. She shrugged and flew back to palace, were she would sobbingly say Starfire had been taken by the witch Raven.

* * *

Starfire slowly opened her eyes, and looked at her surroundings. The room she was is was quite large; she lay down in a comfortable bed. She raised her head and looked around more.

The room was lovely; a cabinet filled with beautiful dresses, jewelry was laid on a dresser, and many materials. Some for painting, knitting, writing, and there was also many books.

Light poured in through a window, the only window in the room, and she noticed someone standing at the end of the bed. She jumped slightly, caught surprised.

"You're awake, good. You bumped your head and were knocked out." The boy said.

"Really? I do not remember…anything. Who am I?" She asked confused, rubbing her head.

False concern was displayed on his face. On every part except under the mask that covered his eyes and a bit of his face.

"Amnesia, that's not good." He sat beside her on the bed. "You are Starfire, do you remember nothing?"

She desperately tried to think, tried to remember anything. "I don't remember anything."

The boy sighed. "You live with me; the two of us are shunned by all others. We all each other has, we are rejected because we are hideous."

Starfire looked to him with sadness. "We are hideous? You do not look hideous to me."

"I hide me freakish face behind this mask, but you are unable to hide your looks. I dare not ever let you leave this tower, or the cruel people who live in this land would surely kill you."

"Really? Th-that is horrible!" Tears ran down her face.

He nodded. "It is, but that is why I must take care of you. I protect you, bring you food and supplies."

"Do you always stay with me?"

"No, I sometimes must leave to meet with my master. He is a dark and cruel man, but if I ever tried to leave his service he would surely kill me. Then I could not take care of you." He told. He was both lying and being truthful in that speech, but Starfire clearly believed him.

"Then thank you for all you've done for me. I will try and remember." She promised. She didn't know he was lying, and it would be impossible for her to regain any memory due to a spell. She looked to him again.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Richard Grayson, you but some have given me the nickname Robin."

She smiled. "Then I will call you Robin, thank you Robin for all your kindness."

He smiled and nodded.

He did not tell his master Slade, but he had spent a long time alone in this tower. Waiting for orders. And he had grown lonely. This girl is the only company he might have for a long while, and he wanted her to be happy.

He would make sure she would never leave him, that she would never turn against him.

* * *

One year passed, Raven was blamed for Starfire's disappearance. She was forced to flee Jump, or risk being killed for something she had never done.

The Dark Master Slade invaded soon after, and conquered to the land easily. He ruled it as a tyrant.

Starfire spent lots of time with Robin. She learned how he came to be in the service of an evil master. How his parents gave him the nickname Robin and were killed by thieves. Then how a wealth man took him in after that.

The wealthy man taught him to fight, and help others. But the two had a falling out, and Robin wandered to land. Until he was nearly killed in an accident, but was saved by Slade. Slade forced him into working for him after that.

"It was in the accident I was scarred, I looked barely human." He would claim. But it was a complete lie; he had no scars at all. There was not a single mirror in the room Starfire was kept in, so she could not see if she truly was so ugly that people would be scared of her.

She constantly asked Robin to remove his mask, so she could see his face. But he always refused.

Raven had met two powerful friends who wanted to help her in her fight against Slade, Beast Boy and Cyborg. She wanted to free her former home of his Slade's cruelty.

Beast Boy could transform into any animal.

Through magic, a dying Victor Stone was fused to metal. Making most of his body incredibly powerful.

They two shared her cause. Raven never gave up hope of finding her friend Starfire, who she knew lived; she could feel it through her magic.

On their way through the woods one day. She would she her belief was accurate, she was alive.

* * *

Starfire sigh, she felt so lonely when Robin had to leave to meet his master.

The room was covered with her excellent paintings, some of birds, trees, and other things she could see through her window.

But most were of Robin, the one she cared about so. He would sit with her and talk for hours and hours. They would play games, and she loved every moment she had with him.

But still, she felt like she should leave; take the risk of going out onto the world. She did not tell Robin, she did not want to upset him. She looked out the window, waiting for the moment she would see him in the distance.

She spotted someone, three someones, none of which were Robin. She had never seen anyone but Robin walking through the woods before.

Starfire was about to call to them but paused. 'They will think I'm hideous, they may try to hurt me.' She considered it for a moment. 'But no one can open the door to the tower except Robin. He has a powerful spell on this tower; no one may enter or leave without his permission. They cannot hurt me, I might as well try'

"Hello!" She cried meekly. The three odd people looked to her

* * *

Raven looked to her two companions as the three trudged through the woods.

"I am, so exhausted, I need to rest, PLEASE!" Beast Boy begged her. Raven hissed slightly.

"We have a powerful dark warlock we'll have to fight soon. I don't need your complaining!"

"Raven he's right! We should set up camp; we're not going to get to fight Slade tonight. And collapsing from exhaustion aint gonna help anything!" Cyborg let out.

Raven suddenly snapped back to reality. "You're right, I'm sorry we should set up camp. It's just I have a feeling, I sense something near by, something familiar." She looked around.

"What is it? Slade?" Cyborg looked around suspiciously. Beast Boy yelps and transformed into a gorilla, both were ready to attack.

"No, calm down. It's something else,I'm not sure what." Cyborg and Beast Boy relaxed. The three walked a little farther, trying to find a good place to rest.

"Whoa! Check it out! A really big building in the middle of nowhere!" Beast Boy pointed forward.

Sure enough, a large dark ominous tower poked out of the trees. Raven's eyes narrowed on it.

"Whatever I felt, it's coming from there. Follow me." She flew off forward, her two friends yelled for her to stop, but when they failed they chased after her.

The approached the incredibly frighten tower, and Raven came to a stop. Her friends caught up.

"Raven, I don't like this. I've seen towers like this, they always contain on of Slade's most powerful soldiers." Cyborg said

Raven ignored and touched the door; a bolt of dark energy stuck her. "This tower is protected, no way in." She sighed. "But I know what I'm looking for is here,"

Beast Boy looked around nervously. "Maybe we should-"He was interrupted.

"Hello!" cried a meek voice from above. They all looked up and spotted a window.

"I'm going to fly up." Raven stated, he ignored their objections and used her magic to float to the window.

Starfire looked to her in wonderment. "You fly."

Raven did say a word, she simply stared. Starfire grew nervous, 'She sees how ugly I am, and is to shocked to talk!' She thought sadly.

"Starfire, I have found you!" She cried out in very uncharacteristic joy. "So Slade had one of his troops hold you captive all this time. Starfire, I'm sorry it took so long for me to find you."

Starfire blinked confused. "Y-you know me? Who are you?"

"Starfire, it's Raven…don't you remember me?" She asked. Starfire shook her head.

"I do not remember anything. I am sorry, but Robin has never told me about you."

'Robin must be her captor; I should have known they'd use a spell to erase her memory.' Raven sigh, she had to get her old friend out this tower.

"Starfire, the two of use to friends, but were taken by an evil warlock named Slade. This 'Robin' no doubt is one of his troops, I should have found you sooner- he must have put you through hell."

Starfire wasn't sure if she understood or believed all of what Raven was saying, but she shook her head furiously when Raven said Robin mistreated her.

"Robin never mistreated me, and never laid a finger on me. He is my greatest friend; he talks to me for hours, cooks for me and protects me."

"Protects you? Protects you from what?" Raven asked, not being able to comprehend why Starfire seems to care for this servant of Slade.

Starfire looked sad. "From those who wish to hurt me because I am so hideous." Fury grew within Raven, how dare he say such a thing?

"You are not hideous; in fact before you were captured many people were attracted to you."

Starfire looked sad, but had a flicker of hope now; she looked into Raven's eyes. "Truly?"

"Yes, he lied to you to make sure you would never try and escape."

Emotions conflicted inside Starfire, joy and hurt. She was happy that she was not considered ugly, but could not imagine why Robin would lie to her so.

"How could Robin do this to me?" She turned around and sobbed.

It was just then Raven caught a look into Starfire's room. It was quite lovely, for a prison. Of course the pictures on the wall were clearly painted by Star; she remembered her friend's skill with a brush.

And almost all the pictures were of a young good looking man. 'He must be this 'Robin she speaks so fondly of. My god, she has fallen in love with him!' "I must find a way to get you out of here. Before he gets back, it's for the best."

Starfire shook her head furiously. "I must speak to Robin before I go anywhere. Please, he will be back soon. Return at sunrise." Raven felt uneasy, she did not want to risk what this 'Robin' might do to Star.

"Starfire…"

"Please, I must do this!" Raven looked into her friends eyes, and knew she had no choice.

"Very well Starfire, until I return stay safe."

Raven returned to her friends.

"Well?"

"Remember the friend I had I told you disappeared." Raven asked. The boys nodded. "She is locked in that tower." The two boys looked surprised.

"Well, lets get her out of there!" Beast Boy let out.

Raven shook her head. "She has…fallen in love with the young man who keeps her captive. She asked not to even try to remove the spell that keeps her captive until sunrise, so she may talk to the boy."

Cyborg and Beast Boy's jaws dropped in shock. "Uh, Raven are you sure about this?"

"No, but it is what she wants. We will camp near by and come back at sundown."

* * *

Robin removed the spell from the tower for a moment and entered it, and walked up to Starfire's room.

She was lying on her bed, her eyes were red from crying and her pillow was wet with tears.

"What's wrong?"

She looked to him, her eyes filled with hurt. "You lied to me! I am not ugly."

He looked to her with surprised. He considered it for a moment. "Someone was here today, you must have talked to someone, who was it?"

"A friend of mine, who really knew me before your master took my memories."

"Hmm, and you believe this person who claims to know who you are?"

Starfire was caught off guard a little by that, was he right? Was the girl lying? "She knew my name."

Robin sighed. "Did she say she'd be back?"

Starfire nodded. "She said she'd return to free me at sundown."

"I doubt she will return, but I'll stop her if she comes." He closed the door to Starfire's room as he left. Living her hurt and confused.

* * *

As sunrise came Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven returned to the tower. Only this time Robin was waiting for them.

"Turn back; you won't take her from me."

"Says you pointy hair!" Beast Boy let out. He transformed into a lion and pounced. Robin stood unfazed, and when Beast Boy got close enough, he swiftly kicked him back before Beast Boy could even scratch him.

The other two watch as Beast Boy was thrown back.

"He's good." Cyborg pointed out.

"It does not matter, we are taking Starfire. You cannot keep her imprisoned forever."

"She was happy until you showed up."

Raven noticed something in his voice, concern, for Starfire. "You cannot keep her locked up forever, it will destroy her."

Robin looked to the ground. "She-she's all I have. If I lost her, I'd be alone."

Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven looked to each other with surprise, maybe this guy wasn't evil.

"So then, you'd rather keep her lock up forever and force her to stay. If you care about her, you gotta let here go!" Cyborg pleaded.

Robin seemed to consider what he said.

"Dude, you know it's the only way." Beast Boy piped in.

"But, I-I care about her."

"If that is true, then you must free her. Please let her live her life as she chooses if you love her." Raven asked, putting her hand on his solider.

He shrugged her off, and gritted his teeth. "Fine!" He waved his had, and the spell around the tower vanished.

"Thank you." Raven said walking to the door.

"If I see you, her or any of you again…" He didn't bother to finish the threat, he didn't need to. Raven ignored him and brought Starfire out of the tower.

Starfire smiled as she walked into the fresh air, she held a bundle of cloth in her hands. Cyborg and Beast Boy smile and waved.

"Hey, nice to meet ya." Beast Boy greeted.

Starfire smiled and waved back then turned to Robin.

"Thank you for letting me go." She hugged, he pushed her off.

"You want to go with them? You barely know them but you chose them over me."

Starfire shook her head. "No I didn't, I want you to come with us!" Everyone's eyes went wide except Starfire's.

"Starfire, I don't believe that is a good idea, he works for Slade." Raven said to her friend.

"Robin is not evil; an evil person would not spend hours talking to me about whatever I wished. An evil man would not bring me books and paint and brushes. I have spent so much time with him, he is not evil."

"Starfire, he lied to you." Raven pointed out.

"Yes, but he always believed his evil master would come for me if he let me leave and roam freely. He lied, but he also protected me and cared deeply for me, and I for him."

She turned to Robin once again. "Friend Robin, will you not come with me?"

He looked at her like she was insane. "Are your nuts? You know my dark master Slade will kill me if I do such a thing!"

Cyborg approached. "As it would happen, we are all about to and attempt to slay your dark master. We could use some help." He offered. Raven looked to him furious. "What? Like it or not, he's probably coming."

Robin seemed to consider the offer.

"Please Robin, I would feel like I was incomplete if I had to leave you."

Robin smiled. "Okay, I'll come." Starfire pulled him into a deep hug.

"She then handed him the bundle of cloth. "I made you a new outfit, could you wear it? Because you no longer serve Slade." He looked at it and nodded. He entered the tower and changed, then left.

The suit was the traditional Robin outfit. Red, green, yellow and his mask was still on.

"Do you like it?" She asked hopefully. He nodded.

"Uh, you know I lied to you before, I don't really have any scars." He said sheepishly. She nodded.

"I knew that already."

"Really" He asked surprised.

"Yes, I saw you remove your mask a little while ago when you were coming back from one of your trips to Slade; you took it off when you didn't realize I was watching you threw the window. You are actually quite handsome."

He smiled.

The new friend walked off talking about what would lie ahead. With the addition of Starfire and now Robin who had vast knowledge of Slade and his fighting skills and weaknesses it would make chance of victory greater.

Raven wasn't incredibly comfortable with the closeness Starfire had with her former captor, but could sense true love between them.

"We should call ourselves something, you know? Now that we are a team." Beast boy pointed out.

"How bout, Cyborg plus four others?" Cyborg offered.

"How bout no?" Beast Boy returned.

"Like titans we go off to fight a powerful force. How about the Teen Titans?" Robin let out.

"Hey, I like it! I like it a lot!" Beast Boy stated. Cyborg nodded.

* * *

They would slay Slade, and Starfire would take here thrown as queen. Robin and Starfire would be married, and he would be by her side as king. They would have a long a peaceful rule over the land.

Raven would be their top advisor, Cyborg and Beast Boy would be trusted knights. Starfire would regain her memory, and Blackfire would be exiled for her treachery.

And this story will end as most fairy tales end.

**And they all lived happily ever after**

Fin


End file.
